Let's Stick Together
by Bilbo
Summary: 4 days after Pyramid, Monkey finally has a chance to rest, and Trip decides she wants to tell Monkey how she feels.


Set 4 days after Monkey and Trip have destroyed Pyramid and freed the slaves. I don't own the copyrights to any of this stuff, it's Namco and Ninja Theory's property. I'll gain nothing from writing this.

Trip and Monkey sat side by side next to the fire. It had taken about 4 days of hard travel to reach an area that provided food and water. Monkey had carried Trip for some of the way. He had not slept while they were on the move, but was making up for it now that they were stopped. He was leaning back against a rock for support, breathing lightly, and fast asleep.

Trips thoughts wandered back to her early times traveling with him. The first few days, Monkey was constantly pissed off. It was understandable, she would have been angry too if someone took away her free will. Soon though, Monkey had started complimenting her when she did well. She always did her best to make things easier for them, though Monkey did all the heavy work.

She recalled first riding on his back. He must have been solid muscle. It wasn't long before she realized she was physically attracted to him. Soon it wasn't just physical though. He really was like a gallant knight, from the old stories her father had told her. He'd saved her from the dog and the rhino, and though scared, she relished when he'd hold her hand, caress her shoulder, or put an arm around her.

The most special moment for her happened inside the Leviathan. They were resting together, and she decided it was time for her to keep her promise to him. She powered down the headband. Her heart sank when he asked her if that meant he was free to leave. Yes, he could have left then. Free, back to his old life. When he spoke his next words, "Turn it back on." Confused, why would he want it back on? He repeated himself, and she turned it back on. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him, just be close to him. She didn't know what was going to happen at Pyramid, but at that point she did know she wanted to stay with Monkey from then on.

Trip thought about everything she had gone through. She had lost her village, her father, and she felt personally responsible for the death of Pigsy. She knew they'd all want her to continue on. She was afraid though. Still afraid Monkey would want to go back to living alone, it was how he'd survived for so long. She would not use a headband again. Even though it all worked out well, she still deeply regretted what she did to Monkey. If he would continue traveling with her, it was going to be of his own free will. She had to find out, might as well bring up the topic after he finished resting. Hopefully he'd be in a good mood.

After about 3 hours of good sleep, Monkey's body woke him up. He had never had a chance to rest for long periods of time, and it didn't look like that was going to change anytime soon. Trip saw him stirring awake and moved next to him. Seeing him yawn made her smile. It gave him an innocent look, totally contrary to his usual demeanor.

"How are you feeling, Monkey?"

He opened his eyes and glanced over at Trip. "Better, still pretty damn sore, but at least I feel like I can keep my eyes open now."

"That's good! I cooked up some of our food supplies, do you want some?"

"Yeah, thanks." She handed over a bowl with some stew. Easiest thing to cook over a fire. Just put in water and toss in whatever ingredients you had.

Monkey downed it quickly, not letting the hot temperature bother him.

"So, Monkey. Do you remember, back before we reached my village, and I said my father would offer you a place to stay if you wanted?"

He nodded, remembering it perfectly.

"Well, it wasn't just that. Really...I didn't want you to leave. I still don't."

Trips face was slightly red, and she looked away. Monkey just looked on, waiting for her to finish.

"It's not just for protection either! I care about you now. I want us to stay together. I'll do whatever I can, I promise not to be a burden!"

Monkey smiled slightly. Heh, she'd done plenty to show she wasn't a burden. Sure, they'd almost died a couple of times, but the way he'd been living, it seemed like a regular occurrence.

"So Trip, you wanna stay with me?"

She looked him in the eyes and nodded.

"Monkey, you're the only person I care about anymore that's still alive. I couldn't survive alone out here, you know-"

Monkey put his hand up, silencing her.

"Let's not think about that. Sure, we stay together. But you still need to do as I say when we find trouble. As for doing whatever you can for me, start by coming over here."

He gestured to her with open arms, and Trip slid over and sat in his lap. Her head rested against his chest, and she put her arms around him. He placed his arm around her shoulders, thinking.

"Don't worry Trip, I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you anymore. Promise."

She looked up into his eyes, grateful again to him. She always seemed to feel like she owed him, and she'd do her best for him, no matter what. "Thank you, Monkey...you don't know what it means to me to hear you say that."

Monkey tussled some hair that was hanging loose down her back, and squeezed her shoulder lightly.

"I just want you to be happy Trip." He recalled seeing her cry over the dying fish, and then again at finding her village in ruins and everyone she cared about dead. That's never going to happen again, he thought.

"Trip, I been thinking. I'm still not certain where we are, but if we keep heading east we'll find some landmarks one of us will recognize. I'd like to go back to where we found Pigsy. My rides still there, plus I think we both owe it to him to pay our respects."

Trip nodded. She agreed completely. Pigsy had made this all possible for them, and she wanted to honor him. Maybe they could put up a memorial. Plus getting back Monkey's ride would be huge. She smiled remembering the feel of the wind rushing against her.

"I'd like that Monkey, that sounds like a good plan. Should we get going now?"

He looked down at her, an amused look on his face. "No, not yet Trip. I'm comfortable like this, and I think we can spare a little more time."

She smiled again, snuggling up close with Monkey, his breathing lulling her to sleep. Her last thoughts before drifting off was that even after so much loss, she was amazed she had found someone who could still make her smile, make her happy. She was safe and with the man she loved...love, yes that was the right word. Whatever was to come, they'd be together to see it through.

Author Notes

I redid the story about 3 times before I got tired of editing. I'm still not entirely satisfied with it, but I'm done, and it'll have to do.

The game's ending was good, but I just personally wanted to tie off the Trip/Monkey loose end, I liked them a lot and wanted to see them happy together. Tried to keep it in character, and not add anything too sappy, but it wasn't easy. If there's anything I didn't put in feel free to use your own imagination to come up with it. Thanks, hope you enjoyed reading this.


End file.
